Parts cleaner



C. G. LUECK PARTS CLEANER Oct. 11, 1955 Filed Feb. 26, 1953 INVENTOR. CHESTER a. LUECK BY L g 5 alyws cu A T TORNE Y United States Patent PARTS CLEANER Chester G. Lueck, Arcadia, Calif.

Application February 26, 1953, Serial No. 339,032

Claims. Cl. 134-94 This invention relates to a cleaner for dirty objects from which depositsare to be removed by solvent action.

Particularly in automotive repair shops there is a constant need for equipment to clean parts having irregular contours and passageways which have been exposed to grease, grime and heat for long periods of time. The deposits built up in such a manner are usually hard and securely adherent to the objects. Manual cleaning of parts is expensive in that it is time consuming and usually does not accomplish satisfactory results in small recesses, passages and crevices. Mere soaking in solvents is not generally effective for removing this caked-on grime, since it serves only to soften the surfaces which it can contact and partially dissolve. The rate of penetration into these surfaces is extremely slow and there are no means for removing the already-softened grime in order that the solvent may penetrate more deeply. This problem is most aggravated in small passages such as are found in carburetors, which cannot easily be cleaned mechanically.

] To solve this problem various devices have been built to agitate the parts in a pool of solvent by actually moving the part itself, or by moving a container in which the part is suspended. Such agitators have been me chanically complex and subject to breakdown. developed a parts cleaning device which has no moving parts and which provides an even more effective agitation than mechanical types. The agitation is secured from a compressed gas supply which is almost universally available in repair shops. The gas is expelled into the tank through a difiuser, and its escape agitates the solvent. This agitated flow of solvent over the dirty parts materially speeds the removal of undesirable grime and hastens penetration to lower layers of the deposits by physically removing the loosened substances from th surfaces of the deposits.

l The apparatus of the invention comprises a container to hold the solvent and the parts to be cleaned and a diffuser member disposed in the tank and including passageways through which gases are introduced into and to agitate the solvent. A basket may be provided to hold theparts, the basket preferably having a perforated bottom and legs to hold it out of settled sediment. The basket facilitates handling, and avoids the necessity of the users immersing his hands in the solvent.

My invention will be completely understood from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment read in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the preferred apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a plan section, taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

A cylindrical tank 19 which holds a pool of solvent 12 is fitted with a diffuser assembly 14 which comprises five tubular members 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, four of which (numbers 15, 16, 17 and 18) are disposed horizontally, and each of these has a longitudinal central passageway I have 2,720,210 Patented Oct. 11, 1955 ice 15A, 16A, 17A, 18A. The wall of each horizontal tube is drilled to form two ports 15B, 15C, 16B, 16C, 17B, 17C, 18B, 18C respectively, which ports may be about in diameter to provide a passageway through the tube wall.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the tubular members are welded to form a spider which in turn is attached to the tank at the outer extremities of the tubular members. The fifth tubular or spindle member 20 is mounted adjacent the center of the spider to extend vertically therefrom and has a passageway and eight ports 22, each of which may be about in diameter. All the tubular members are closed off at their outer ends, the longitudinal passageways in each tube being interconnected at the center of the spider. The vertical tubular member, in addition to its diffusion function, also serves as a spindle for a basket later to be described.

One tube extends through the side of the tank to a fitting 24 to which compressed air hoses maybe attached. A common off-on valve 26 is installed at this fitting to shut off gas flow and an orifice 28 is placed between the valve and the diffuser to determine the rate of flow of compressed air so that valve 26 may simply be turned full on. The orifice size is approximately The sizes of the orifice and ports in the walls of the tubular members as specified have been found to be suitable for the operation of this device. The upward flow of gas from the horizontal members is made more turbulent by the gas flow directed horizontally from the spider member, and it is therefore desirable that gas be expelled from all ports.

For convenience in handling parts, to provide separation of the parts from each other and to suspend the parts in the solvent and out of the settled sediment, a circular basket 3%) is provided having a perforated bottom 32 which allows freeflow of solvent and substantially unimpeded settling of the sediment: to the bottom of the tank. Parts to be cleaned are placed upon this basket. The perforated portion has a hole 34 with a bushing 36 at its center, which bushing fits around the vertical tube or spindle of the diffuser assembly and serves to center the basket when it is immersed in the pool of solvent. The basket is fitted with a handle 38 having a hook 40 attached to one side which permits it to be hung on the upper edge of the tank while the basket is being loaded with parts to be cleaned, as illustrated in phantom in Fig. 1. In addition, four legs 42 are attached to the basket in order that the Weight of the basket and objects to be cleaned may be supported by the bottom of the tank rather than by the diffuser assembly and above the bottom so that the parts do not become fouled by settled sediment.

A tight fitting cover 44 is provided for the tank to minimize solvent loss. Handles 46, 47 may be attached respectively to both the tank and the top.

The parts cleaner as illustrated functions especially well in cleaning small carburetor parts when it is ap* proximately .12" in diameter, 18" high, andfilled to approximately adepth of 16" with orthodichlorobenzene;

which is agitated by compressed air entering the valve at approximately pounds per square inch gauge.

Many gases besides air may be used. Steam, for instance, has the added advantage of heating the solvent as it agitates the pool. However, air is. generally the most useful gas, since air compressors are almost universally found in repair shops. Also, many liquid solvents may be used, the choice depending on the nature of the deposit to be removed. Fluids of all sorts may be used, both in liquid and gas form. It may be desirable in some applications to provide agitation by recirculating the solvent itself through the diffuser. Small parts are 3 cleaned by this device in much less time than required by previous devices.

I claim:

1. A parts cleaner comprising a tank for holding a pool of solvent, fa gas ditfusenasserrtbly located adjacent the bottom of the drank and having aPOPtS for discharging gas into the solvent with the ,ports .being arranged 'to discharge approximately horizontal and vertical jets of gas which converge along a plurality of directions to produce -'turbulenee in-thetsolvent so that it =will penetrate into and around irregular contours and passageways of the parts to 'be-cleaned, a conduit connected to the gas difiuser assembly for coupling it to a source of gas under pressure, and a restriction located inside the conduit and defining an \orifice for preventing an "excess rate of flow of the ,gas into the :difiuser assembly so as to limit the rate .of evaporationof the solvent and so as to prevent thevsolvent from being .blown out of the tank due to the pressure ,provided by the source of gas.

2. A parts cleaner comprising 'a tank for holding a pool of solvent, a diifuserassembly :in the bottom portion of the tank .comprising'at least one perforated member disposed horizontally, vandat least one perforated vertical member extending upwardly from the horizontal member, the members being adapted to provide jets which converge along a plurality of directions, the members each having a passageway, the passageways being interconnected, a conduit for connecting the passageways to a source of compressed gas whereby the gas is discharged into the tank for causing turbulence in the solvent, and a restriction located in the conduit, said restriction defining an orifice for preventing an excess rate of ,gas flow to limit evaporation of the solvent .and to prevent the solvent from being blown out of the tank.

3. A parts cleaner comprising a tank for holding a pool of solvent, a diffuser assembly in the bottom portion of the tank comprising four horizontal and one vertical member joined at.a single point, all of the tubular members having a centralpassageway and ports opening from the passageway'into the tank, the passageways being interconnected and the ports in the vertical member being located above .the ports in the horizontal members, means forconnecting the passageways to a sourceof compressed gas whereby the gas is discharged into the tank in the upward direction by the horizontal members and in the lateral direction by the vertical member to create areas of intersection of gas jets in the solvent for producing turbulence in the solvent, a valve for shutting ofi the flow of compressed gas, and a restriction located in the passageway between the valve and the tubular members, said restriction defining an orifice for preventing an excess rate of gas flow so as to limit evaporation of the solvent and to prevent solvent from being blown out of the tank.

4. A parts cleaner comprising a tank for holding a pool of solvent, a diffuser assembly in the bottom portion of the tank comprising at least four horizontal members and a vertical spindle member, all joined at a single point with the vertical spindle member extending upwardly from the horizontal members, all of said members having central passageways with ports opening from the passageways into the tank, these passageways being interconnected and closed at their outer extremities, a perforated basket removably mounted 'on the spindle 4 member forholding parts tobe cleaned, meansfor connecting the passageways to a source of compressed gas whereby the gas is discharged into the tank in the upward direction by the horizontal members and in the lateral direction by the spindle member to create areas of intersection of gas jets in the solvent for producing turbulence in the solvent, a valve for shutting off fiow of the compressed gas, and arestriction located in the passageway between the valve and the diflEuser assembly members, said restriction defining an "orifice for preventing an excess rate of flow of the gas so as to limit evaporation of the solvent "and'to prevent solvent from being blown out ofthe tank.

5. A parts cleaner having no moving parts, comprising a cylindrical tank for holding "apool of solvent, a gas ditfuser assembly having a plurality of horizontal members located adjacent the bottom of the tank, said horizontal members having discharge ports for discharging gas upwardly through the solvent, the difiuser, assembly also having a vertical member located along the axis of the tank, said vertical member having discharge ports fordischarging .gas radially outward through the solvent, with the ports in the vertical member being located above the ports in thehorizontal member so that the combined action of the horizontal and vertical discharge ports produces a turbulence in the solvent which causes the solvent to penetrate into and around irregular contours and passages of the parts to be cleaned, a conduit connected to the gas diifuser assembly for coupling it to a source of gas under pressure, a restriction located inside the conduit, said restriction defining an orifice for .preventing an excess rate of gas flow into the diffuser assembly so as to limit evaporation of the solvent and to prevent the solvent from being blown out of the tank, and a perforated basket removably mounted on the vertical member of the diffuser assembly for supporting the parts to be cleaned in the solvent, the basket being of cylindrical shape and having-an opening centrallylocated in its bottom, with the vertical member of the diffuser assembly being received by the said opening in the bottom of the basket to the extent that the basket is positioned sufficiently adjacent the horizontal members of the diffuser assembly to support the parts to be cleaned in the areas in which the gas from .thegports in the vertical member intersects the gas from the ports in the horizontal members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,907 Fish June 14, 1881 659,359 Burr et al. Oct. '9, 1900 1,263,045 Donahue Apr. 16, 1918 1,405,243 Wing Jan. 31,1922 1,584,491 Taylor May 11, 1926 1,653,454 Frattallone Dec. .20, 1927 1,717,724 McEwan June 18, 1929 1,861,982 Schiller June 7, 1932 2,241,337 'Work May 6, 1941 2,301,601 Wittwer Nov. 10, 1942 2,586,620 De Hart Feb. 19, 1952 2,663,178 Schwartz Dec. :22, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 971,056 France June 28, 19 50 

